Roy Nelson Vs. Mark Hunt Set For UFC’s Return To Japan

A rumored heavyweight encounter between Roy Nelson and Mark Hunt is now official for this September, as the two will meet at UFC Fight Night: Japan.

UFC president Dana White confirmed the signing of the contest. So far, it is the only bout made official for the September 21 card from Saitama, Japan and the Saitama Super Arena.

Nelson (20-9) is coming off a first round knockout of former interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The win snapped a two-fight losing streak for “Big Country” and improved his UFC record to 7-5.

While just two wins above .500, all seven of his victories have been finishes, including wins over Cheick Kongo, Mirko CroCop, Dave Herman and Brendan Schaub. Each of Nelson’s five defeats have been decisions, including to former UFC champions Frank Mir and Junior dos Santos, along with Daniel Cormier.

Hunt (9-8-1) was left with a majority draw this past December after five rounds with Antonio Silva, despite Silva failing his post-fight drug test. Prior to the draw, “The Super Samoan” had his four-fight win streak snapped by dos Santos.

In 2010, Hunt was just 5-7 in his MMA career, but he reeled off four wins over Stefan Struve, Kongo, Ben Rothwell and Chris Tuchscherer, with three of them being knockouts.